Going Home -- Pt. I :: To the Moon and Back :: Aren and Lily's fight with SCID

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11/07/05 11:32:59 - Going Home -- Pt. I

Category: Transplant
Posted by: Rick

Aren has taken the first big step towards going home. On Wednesday, November 2nd, the doctors released him from the hospital. He's going to have to stay in D.C. for a while longer (January sometime), but he's no longer confined to his hospital room, and he's very excited. MaryBeth said that Wednesday, once he got back to Nana's house, he didn't sit in one place for more than twenty minutes or so. He was just so excited that he couldn't hold still.

Thursday MaryBeth took him on a walk in the park to feed the ducks there. He enjoyed being outside, but he tired pretty quickly. That is to be expected, since other than his 30 minutes of physical therapy each morning, the most exercise he's been getting is climbing out of bed to use the bathroom. His energy levels got another boost on Saturday, though, thanks to Auntie Kath.

After spending a fair amount of time in the hospital staying with Aren, Kath was inspired to buy a Game Cube of her own. Saturday, she brought her newest game: Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix. For those not familiar with "Dance Dance Revolution", the game goes something like this: You are given a mat that has sensors that can tell where you're standing or stepping. The screen tells you which buttons to step on in which order and in what combinations of rhythms. If you can't keep up, you're out.

Who would have thought that getting Aren to exercise would be as easy as turning it into a video game? Aren played the game for about 45 minutes straight Saturday evening. 45 minutes of stepping, jumping and stomping. Aren even started imitating Mario's "Warm-up" moves. (I'm hoping to be able to post a short clip, if we can spare the bandwidth.) When I called, it actually took effort to pull him away from the game long enough to talk to me.

We chatted about how fun the game is and how it's really hard exercise. After a few minutes, he was ready to get back to the game, but first he asked if he could tell me something.

"Dad, I like my new bone marrow."

"I'm glad, Aren."

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flemmanog wrote:

I like Aren's new bone marrow too! DDR Mario Mix is hard exercise. I played for about 20 minutes with my niece and nephew and was sore for 6 hours.

07/11 17:00:25

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All Aren General Make-A-Wish MaryBeth Pre-Transplant Random Thoughts Rick Tatiana Transplant

Aren is undergoing a bone marrow transplant to fix the immune system defects that caused the loss of his little sister, Lily. To learn more, click here.


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Next \| Previous 11/07/05 11:32:59 - Going Home -- Pt. I Category: Transplant Posted by: Rick Aren has taken the first big step towards going home. On Wednesday, November 2nd, the doctors released him from the hospital. He's going to have to stay in D.C. for a while longer (January sometime), but he's no longer confined to his hospital room, and he's very excited. MaryBeth said that Wednesday, once he got back to Nana's house, he didn't sit in one place for more than twenty minutes or so. He was just so excited that he couldn't hold still. Thursday MaryBeth took him on a walk in the park to feed the ducks there. He enjoyed being outside, but he tired pretty quickly. That is to be expected, since other than his 30 minutes of physical therapy each morning, the most exercise he's been getting is climbing out of bed to use the bathroom. His energy levels got another boost on Saturday, though, thanks to Auntie Kath. After spending a fair amount of time in the hospital staying with Aren, Kath was inspired to buy a Game Cube of her own. Saturday, she brought her newest game: Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix. For those not familiar with "Dance Dance Revolution", the game goes something like this: You are given a mat that has sensors that can tell where you're standing or stepping. The screen tells you which buttons to step on in which order and in what combinations of rhythms. If you can't keep up, you're out. Who would have thought that getting Aren to exercise would be as easy as turning it into a video game? Aren played the game for about 45 minutes straight Saturday evening. 45 minutes of stepping, jumping and stomping. Aren even started imitating Mario's "Warm-up" moves. (I'm hoping to be able to post a short clip, if we can spare the bandwidth.) When I called, it actually took effort to pull him away from the game long enough to talk to me. We chatted about how fun the game is and how it's really hard exercise. After a few minutes, he was ready to get back to the game, but first he asked if he could tell me something. "Dad, I like my new bone marrow." "I'm glad, Aren." Did you like this article? Or not so much? Login to post your comments! Comments flemmanog wrote: I like Aren's new bone marrow too! DDR Mario Mix is hard exercise. I played for about 20 minutes with my niece and nephew and was sore for 6 hours. 07/11 17:00:25 Add Comment This item is closed, it's not possible to add new comments to it or to vote on it	All Aren General Make-A-Wish MaryBeth Pre-Transplant Random Thoughts Rick Tatiana Transplant Username: Password: Shared Computer Aren is undergoing a bone marrow transplant to fix the immune system defects that caused the loss of his little sister, Lily. To learn more, click here.
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